Antoinette Elizabeth DeNapoli is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wyoming.

DeNapoli offers a fresh perspective on sannyas that will be of interest to researchers and students of Indian religions. The prose is accessible and lively,

• Acknowledgements ; A Note on Transliteration and Translation ; Introduction: Orienting Metaphors: Singing Bhajans as Devotional Asceticism ; Chapter 1: Performing Asceticism and Redefining Definitional Boundaries ; Chapter 2: "By the Sweetness of the Tongue": Performing Female Agency in Personal Narrative ; Chapter 3: "Forget Happiness! Give me Suffering Instead.": Negotiating Gender and Asceticism in Religious Narrative ; Chapter 4: "On the Battlefield of Bhakti": Gender and Caste in Vernacular Asceticism ; Chapter 5: "I myself am Shabari!": A Tribal Sadhu's Journey of Singing Bhajans ; Chapter 6: "Even the Black Cuckoo Sings Beautifully": Challenge and Reconfiguration in the Practices of a Khatik Sadhu ; Chapter 7: "Write the Text in Your Heart": Non-literacy, Authority, and Female Sadhus' Performances of Asceticism through Sacred Texts ; Chapter 8: "Real Sadhus Sing to God": Performing Sant Asceticism in Vernacular Singing ; Conclusion: "Meeting and Parting in the Mela of Life": Vernacular Asceticism in Rajasthan ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

Antoinette Elizabeth DeNapoli is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wyoming.

DeNapoli offers a fresh perspective on sannyas that will be of interest to researchers and students of Indian religions. The prose is accessible and lively,

• Acknowledgements ; A Note on Transliteration and Translation ; Introduction: Orienting Metaphors: Singing Bhajans as Devotional Asceticism ; Chapter 1: Performing Asceticism and Redefining Definitional Boundaries ; Chapter 2: "By the Sweetness of the Tongue": Performing Female Agency in Personal Narrative ; Chapter 3: "Forget Happiness! Give me Suffering Instead.": Negotiating Gender and Asceticism in Religious Narrative ; Chapter 4: "On the Battlefield of Bhakti": Gender and Caste in Vernacular Asceticism ; Chapter 5: "I myself am Shabari!": A Tribal Sadhu's Journey of Singing Bhajans ; Chapter 6: "Even the Black Cuckoo Sings Beautifully": Challenge and Reconfiguration in the Practices of a Khatik Sadhu ; Chapter 7: "Write the Text in Your Heart": Non-literacy, Authority, and Female Sadhus' Performances of Asceticism through Sacred Texts ; Chapter 8: "Real Sadhus Sing to God": Performing Sant Asceticism in Vernacular Singing ; Conclusion: "Meeting and Parting in the Mela of Life": Vernacular Asceticism in Rajasthan ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

Antoinette Elizabeth DeNapoli is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wyoming.

DeNapoli offers a fresh perspective on sannyas that will be of interest to researchers and students of Indian religions. The prose is accessible and lively,

• Acknowledgements ; A Note on Transliteration and Translation ; Introduction: Orienting Metaphors: Singing Bhajans as Devotional Asceticism ; Chapter 1: Performing Asceticism and Redefining Definitional Boundaries ; Chapter 2: "By the Sweetness of the Tongue": Performing Female Agency in Personal Narrative ; Chapter 3: "Forget Happiness! Give me Suffering Instead.": Negotiating Gender and Asceticism in Religious Narrative ; Chapter 4: "On the Battlefield of Bhakti": Gender and Caste in Vernacular Asceticism ; Chapter 5: "I myself am Shabari!": A Tribal Sadhu's Journey of Singing Bhajans ; Chapter 6: "Even the Black Cuckoo Sings Beautifully": Challenge and Reconfiguration in the Practices of a Khatik Sadhu ; Chapter 7: "Write the Text in Your Heart": Non-literacy, Authority, and Female Sadhus' Performances of Asceticism through Sacred Texts ; Chapter 8: "Real Sadhus Sing to God": Performing Sant Asceticism in Vernacular Singing ; Conclusion: "Meeting and Parting in the Mela of Life": Vernacular Asceticism in Rajasthan ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index